Jump to content

What Mesh Sieve Do You Screen To For Dipping Glazes?


clay lover

Recommended Posts

  I have been using up to a 60 mesh, and screening with a little sieve to 80 for spraying.  Would I benefit from buying a large screen and sieving my buckets to a fine mesh than 60?  How far do you go?

I have several different glazes with different ingredients, if that makes a difference..

I'm not getting grit on my pots, just wondering what, if anything, would change with more screening.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I make all of my own glazes in 5 gallon buckets. That would be approx. 10,000 grams of glaze.

I sieve with an 80 mesh screen into a clean 5 gallon pail.

I then sieve the glaze back into the original 5 gallon pail [which I have washed], using a 100 mesh sieve.

The finer you sieve, the better the melt, especially for lower temperature glazes such as at cone 04.

Ash glazes I only sieve to 40 mesh, as I like the texture.

TJR.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for your info.  I am curious as to why the finer mesh makes better melt.

 

I saw some ^6 pots at a high quality show last week.  The League of NH Craft's annual show in Sunapee.  Lots of high quality ^6 work which I don't usually see in my area, so really inspiring.  The glazes were the same formulas I am using, I recognized them and asked the potters. From MCSG mostly, but the look was so much better than mine, depth and surface.  And mine are pretty nice.    Now I am fixated on how to improve my glazes.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If my mesh is too fine I get stuff that does not pass through it but obviously needs to be in the glaze. How do you get those into the glaze? Am I not mixing it enough first?

 

Also, I think glazes improve if the raw ingredients are fine milled before ... I don't think the screen mills them any finer just breaks up clumps??

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If my mesh is too fine I get stuff that does not pass through it but obviously needs to be in the glaze. How do you get those into the glaze? Am I not mixing it enough first?

 

Also, I think glazes improve if the raw ingredients are fine milled before ... I don't think the screen mills them any finer just breaks up clumps??

 

Run the power mixer longer to break up as many clumps as possible before sieving.

 

Most glaze materials are 200 mesh or finer, however that's not always 100% accurate, and some materials clump up in to quite hard chunks that can be difficult to break up with the screen. You should technically be able to run a glaze through a 180 mesh screen, although it will take a long time to work it through a screen that is that close to the particle size of the materials. I think anything over 100 mesh is overkill for most applications, or if it won't go through your sprayer. The only time I've seen anything finer required was using a particular stain that would clump enough to cause speckles in the glaze rather than being perfectly dispersed in the glaze. In that case, the stain was sieved through a 180 with a small portion of the glaze batch. There was no reason to sieve the entire batch that finely, since only the stain was the problem.

 

A ball mil will actually reduce the particle size, although for most glazes it's overkill. Not worth the effort most of the time. Many glaze manufacturers us high shear mixers for their glazes, which negates the need for sieving and can also reduce the particle size.

 

If you're not having any problems with the 80 mesh, no need to do anything finer. The small the mesh size, the longer it will take to sieve the glaze.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I use 80 mesh but the lithium I have gets caught in that screen so mortar & pestle if I have too much big stuff.

 

If I mix a 10k glaze batch and only have a few grams in the screen, I toss it as that's not enough to matter in that much glaze.

 

I've gotten some titanium dioxide that just mucks up in the new glaze and have to push it through the screen. After that screening the Titanium disperses well into the glaze and no prob after that.

 

Wyndham

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

I have always sieved to 80 mesh. No problems. The finer the particles, the easier they melt. However the screen isn't reducing the particles size of the materials, it's breaking up clumps. Enough mixing and you don't need to screen at all.

So screening is not  necessary if you mix well, say with a stationary blender or stick blender? Are there other mixing alternatives that would be satisfactory for larger volumes?  What is the largest batch you would use a stick blender on?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

I have always sieved to 80 mesh. No problems. The finer the particles, the easier they melt. However the screen isn't reducing the particles size of the materials, it's breaking up clumps. Enough mixing and you don't need to screen at all.

So screening is not  necessary if you mix well, say with a stationary blender or stick blender? Are there other mixing alternatives that would be satisfactory for larger volumes?  What is the largest batch you would use a stick blender on?

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

I have always sieved to 80 mesh. No problems. The finer the particles, the easier they melt. However the screen isn't reducing the particles size of the materials, it's breaking up clumps. Enough mixing and you don't need to screen at all.

So screening is not  necessary if you mix well, say with a stationary blender or stick blender? Are there other mixing alternatives that would be satisfactory for larger volumes?  What is the largest batch you would use a stick blender on?

 

 

I made a lot of 1500-2000 gram batches in the past and I didn't sieve them. I just use the immersion blender for several minutes moving it around and up and down. I pull the blinder up and then stick a tile into the glaze. If it comes out nice and smooth I consider the job done. If it comes out with anything, I will blend more, test again and repeat.

 

I do sieve the larger batches though as there are just so much more ingredients and places for the stuff to hide in the bucket clumped together. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Interesting, I just made up a 7500 g. bucket of Cream Rust. Seven ingredients in the glaze with two oxides. I really use my drill mixer for about 10 minutes, but then still run it twice through an 80 mesh screen to make certain there are no lumps.. . . of which there were some. If you are doing a gallon bucket or so, I would think you could probably get away with it. As this is about 4 gallons of glaze, I had best screen. :huh:

 

best,

Pres

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wollastonite, zinc, tin and probably some more I can't think of right now seem to agglomerate both in the bag and some of them in the glaze slurry if it's left for a while. After all the work of making pots a few extra minutes sieving the glaze really is not a big deal. Save one pot from the shard pile and it's worth the effort. 80 mesh is what I've always used for glazes and 60 for slip.

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

I have always sieved to 80 mesh. No problems. The finer the particles, the easier they melt. However the screen isn't reducing the particles size of the materials, it's breaking up clumps. Enough mixing and you don't need to screen at all.

So screening is not  necessary if you mix well, say with a stationary blender or stick blender? Are there other mixing alternatives that would be satisfactory for larger volumes?  What is the largest batch you would use a stick blender on?

 

 

I've used the stick blender on 2 gallon batches before. It takes a few minutes, but it's less cleanup than two buckets and a sieve. A blender is a high shear device, so it does and excellent job of getting rid of clumps. A drill mixer does not do nearly as good a job because it does not run at high RPMs, and the mixing blades are not made to cut, but rather just to move the material around, so it would take much longer to get it smooth that way.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

I have always sieved to 80 mesh. No problems. The finer the particles, the easier they melt. However the screen isn't reducing the particles size of the materials, it's breaking up clumps. Enough mixing and you don't need to screen at all.

So screening is not  necessary if you mix well, say with a stationary blender or stick blender? Are there other mixing alternatives that would be satisfactory for larger volumes?  What is the largest batch you would use a stick blender on?

 

I would always screen through a sieve. If you ball mill your glaze, you can make large amounts depending on the size of the ball mill.The glaze comes out at 200 mesh after ball milling.

TJR.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i sieve to remove the various legs, wings, etc. of the insects that commit suicide in my tightly closed containers of ingredients.  they probably don't add up to many grams but i still want them out.  60 mesh is fine for me.

 

once, in a shared studio, i wanted to use the glaze in a 30- gallon trash can.  it had not been sieved for years and had a buildup on the inside walls about 6 inches thick.  i found broken pots in the bottom whose shards were so old they were of interest to anthropologists. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

I would always screen through a sieve. If you ball mill your glaze, you can make large amounts depending on the size of the ball mill.The glaze comes out at 200 mesh after ball milling.

TJR.

 

 

 

Though as I'm sure you know, excessive ball milling can lead to serious glaze flaws, such as crawling.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.